Chapter Fifty-Three: The Omnipotent Arbiter

Contribution points credited. Lin Lei’s consciousness entered the system space to select equipment.

The benefits of his advancement in awakening finally became apparent—Lin Lei could now multitask, no longer needing to worry about being mistaken for a fool by those around him.

A 16-tube 107mm rocket launcher vehicle cost 15 contribution points each, with 16 fully-loaded 107mm rockets included.

A single 107mm rocket was priced at 0.5 contribution points, with a minimum exchange of two rockets. It had a range of 8,500 meters and a lethal radius of 12.5 meters. With a launcher, it could be fired; without one, it was still usable—even setting it alight with a match would launch it. It was truly a divine weapon for guerrilla warfare.

With just 150 contribution points, he could exchange for ten launch vehicles, allowing for a volley of 160 rockets at once—enough to ensure that not a single enemy soldier landing on the shore would return alive.

It should be noted that the entire Dagu fort group, counting all cannons large and small, had only 134 guns in total. In terms of range and firepower, they were far inferior to the 107mm rocket.

Yet, in the end, Lin Lei did not exchange for this weapon.

There was only one reason—it was too costly in terms of contribution points.

The invading enemy numbered less than a thousand and was scattered widely. To wipe them all out would require at least a hundred rockets, yielding less than ten contribution points in return.

The cost and benefit were completely disproportionate, much like in the Resident Evil world, where Lin Lei would rather risk close combat than overuse ranged weapons.

Ultimately, he chose a special warfare weapon, one that would become a strategic weapon in future wars—the Arbitrator Hive Drone.

The Arbitrator Hive Drone could be deployed on land, sea, air, or even in outer space.

Each set cost 50 contribution points and came with 20 micro-drones. They could operate independently or combine for a more powerful assault—the more drones in the combination, the greater the attack power.

Theoretically, with a billion drones combined, the strongest strike could even destroy a planet the size of the moon. Whether sea, land, air, or outer space, one shot would turn everything to dust.

Of course, while the Arbitrator’s offensive capabilities were superb, it had no defensive ability whatsoever; a common metal bullet could pierce it, given enough range.

Furthermore, the more drones involved in a combination, the longer the process took. Without overwhelming superiority or an ambush, the Arbitrator Hive Drones were generally used as a swarm attack weapon, compensating for insufficient firepower.

Lin Lei spent 100 contribution points on two sets of Arbitrators and another 200 points on 40 high-energy crystals.

Each high-energy crystal, worth five contribution points, served as both the power source and the attack energy for the Arbitrator Hive Drones.

The drones’ attack method was the laser gun, while their combined skill was the laser cannon—the more drones involved, the larger the caliber and the greater the power.

This would be Lin Lei’s trump card for the future, whether fighting high-tech wars or facing powerful cultivators; with this weapon, he could achieve unexpected victories.

“Host, the drone command terminal still requires a powerful artificial intelligence to operate,” the system promoted its ancillary product as soon as Lin Lei exchanged for the Arbitrator.

“Each hive drone set comes equipped with an intelligent program. I only need to issue commands, and it will act accordingly. Why would I need an intelligent terminal?” Lin Lei was puzzled.

“Each hive has its own number. For small-scale group combat, it’s fine. But if you have more than fifty sets fighting fiercely, before you finish reciting their numbers, the battle will be over,” the system explained.

Currently, Lin Lei only had two sets of Arbitrators, which could be designated as Swarm One and Swarm Two.

In battle, he would have to give commands one by one: “Swarm One, attack sector XX; Swarm Two, attack sector XX...”

Even if attacking the same target, he would need to instruct each swarm separately.

It was manageable with few swarms, but if he had dozens of Arbitrators and encountered an emergency, by the time Lin Lei finished giving orders, the fight would already be decided.

Not to mention commanding tens of thousands of swarms in battle.

An intelligent terminal was different; it could quickly grasp Lin Lei’s intentions and issue all commands at once.

At that point, Lin Lei would only need to tell the terminal how many drones, which area to deploy to, and what target to attack. The terminal would handle the rest.

“An intelligent terminal, huh? I’ll pick one carefully once the battle’s over,” Lin Lei said.

With only two swarms, command was simple and there was no rush.

More importantly, having been swindled by the system too many times, even if he were to exchange for an intelligent terminal, Lin Lei would shop around and compare before deciding.

“No need to trouble yourself, Host. In this vast universe, what intelligent terminal could compare with this very system? Connect the Arbitrators to me, and whether commanding ten thousand or a hundred million swarms, I can issue all instructions instantly. The reason Arbitrator combinations are slow is mainly due to command delays. Besides this system, no intelligent terminal can direct more than ten thousand Arbitrators at once,” the system boasted.

The system’s computational power was indeed far beyond that of any ordinary intelligent terminal.

“What’s this? Tax collection and resource exchange aren’t enough for you—now you want to sell your services?” Lin Lei retorted, sarcasm in his voice.

“Just a side job. Besides, if I truly wanted to sell myself, you couldn’t afford me,” the system shot back.

“Fine, how much for you to double as an intelligent terminal?” Lin Lei was curious to see what trick it would play.

“Very cheap—only one contribution point per set connected,” the system replied.

“Only one point... Wait a minute—damn it! Are you trying to rob me blind? I almost fell for it!” Lin Lei quickly caught on.

One point per set—connecting ten thousand sets would cost ten thousand contribution points!

Though Lin Lei wasn’t sure how many sets he would eventually exchange for, if he only purchased four or five thousand, a decent intelligent terminal costing around three hundred points could easily handle it.

If the number of Arbitrators exceeded that, he could always add another terminal.

“You get what you pay for. With my seamless cooperation, each Arbitrator will perform at two hundred percent combat power,” the system continued to pitch.

For reasons unknown, ever since the heavily damaged system learned Lin Lei had exchanged for Arbitrators, it instinctively wanted to connect with them, just as it instinctively sought to reclaim its essence by any means.

“One point for ten sets, not a single set more,” Lin Lei bargained, intrigued by the promised two hundred percent combat effectiveness.

“Deal! One point deducted, terminal connection initiated. Swarm One connected. Swarm Two connected. Eight free connection ports remain,” the system immediately agreed.

“Uh... Wait, this isn’t right! Don’t you even haggle?” Lin Lei was unsettled by the system’s promptness.

“No take-backs. The agreement is set.”

“Fine! Very well! Just you wait—I’ll find a way to get back at you!” Lin Lei was fuming.

He knew he’d probably taken a big loss this time and would have to find some other way to even the score.